With his bison horns and his face in the colors of the flag of the United States, he had become one of the faces of the Capitol attack. The judge condemned him while taking into account his “remorse”.
Le Monde with AFP
Armed with a naked spear and torso, a self-proclaimed “shaman” and adherent to the theories of the plot of the Qanon nebula had participated in the invasion of the Congress with hundreds of supporters of Donald Trump, to prevent elected officials from validating The victory of the Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential election.
become with his bison horns one of the faces of the attack on January 6, this pro-Trump comploise activist was sentenced, Wednesday, November 17, nearly three and a half prison by a court of Washington , a lighter sentence than the one claimed by the Prosecution. Jacob Chansley, 34, “has become the very image” of this day of chaos that had shaken the American democracy, said Judge Royce Lamberth, pronouncing a sentence of forty-one months of imprisonment. “What you did is terrible,” he added, while taking into account the “remorse” of the accused.
Jacob Chansley had penetrated the Senate hemicycle, sat on the chair reserved for Vice President Mike Pence and had left a note saying: “It’s just a matter of time, justice arrives ! “.
The man from Phoenix, in Arizona, had been arrested a few days after the facts and placed in detention. In September, he had pleaded guilty of impeding an official procedure before a Federal Court of Washington. The Prosecution had claimed, on November 10, a month in prison, which would have been the heaviest sentence against a participant on the 6th of January, even if the burden of violence were abandoned.
“personality disorders”
This severe sentence “will suffice to dissuade forever any criminal act of this kind,” said Wednesday the prosecutor Kimberly Paschall. “Justice will not remain the arms crossed as you attack the peaceful transfer of power.” To explain his severity, she recalled that Jacob Chansley had posted “vitriol messages” on social networks against “corrupt politicians and The traitors within the government “, well before the events of January 6th. “If the accused had been peaceful, he would not be here today,” she launched. “A crowd for the storm of the Capitol with the purpose of disrupting the activities of parliamentarians is not peaceful, it is a criminal hindrance,” she explained.
Addressing a long time to the judge, Jacob Chansley stated to be “not a dangerous criminal” but suffer from “personality disorders” that he wants to treat to become a “better man”. “I am not a violent man, nor a insurgence and certainly not a terrorist. I’m just a good man who broke the law,” he explained, assuring “in freedom, the law and the law. order, and responsibility “. Placed to isolation in prison, he told you had time to look at each other in a mirror to say, “Dude, you really mess.” Before his judgment, his lawyer, Albert Watkins, had assured that Jacob Chansley had, since then, repudiated the Qanon movement and said “disappointed” by Donald Trump.
In total, 664 people were charged with varying degrees for their participation in the deadly assault, according to the Extremism Specialized Research Program at George-Washington University.
Five people died during or shortly after the attack, including a policeman and a protester killed by an agent inside the building. In addition, two police officers committed suicide in the following days and weeks, without a direct link could be established.